In your opinion to

What medication targets aggression the best. I am taking a poll as to which medication. works best for your child. My son is on Risperdal. It was the first medication to help ,but I feel it is starting to poop out. So I'm just wondering what has worked well for others with aggressive kids. Thanks.

I have tryed only stims. with my son so far and the only thing that works so far is rittalin.we tryed dexadrine but it made him very vilont.but im looking for something else because i think his body is becoming immune to it.

no medication here for oldest aggression- time was our best response- time and growth and age.
for husband? overmedicating on multiple medications..that was the only thing that worked. LONG list of medications....MANY diff kinds.

Couple of other things I thought of - difficult child 2's aggression went kaput on the Abilify, which was great, however, with no therapies, once the Abilify was weaned off (because, again, it does this, it's not for long term), he had no clue how to deal with the aggression.

With that being said, I will not commit that the Lithium alone is what nailed Dylan's aggression to the ground. I firmly believe that consistent discipline, social skills classes and his bi-weekly therapy, IN CONJUNCTION with the Lithium, is what squashed the raging/aggression.

Dylan knows good and well he puts his hands on someone in this house, he's going to pay for it, severely. I'm sorry, I just do not feel that medications, alone, are the "cure".

Originally Posted By: Janna
I'm sorry, I just do not feel that medications, alone, are the "cure".

For us, medications were the cure for the aggression. Seroquel was the first medication that worked for my son (he was prescribed the medication for an entirely different reason, however). Seeing how well it worked for him was what made me think he had bipolar disorder and not ADHD (his original diagnosis). I think there is a place for behavior mod and therapy, but when a kid is so out of control he can't "hear" you, nothing is going to work, in my humble opinion.

I should add that the only time my son became aggressive was when he had manic reactions to SSRIs. Normally, he is a very gentle kid, but he flipped out on antidepressants. Depakote stopped his prolonged intense manic reaction to Zoloft.

difficult child 1 - risperadal seemed to work for about 18 months (in conjunction with-Zoloft). Then he got physically aggressive with me and wound up back in the hospital.

Depakote stopped the aggression after his release, but he had such awful side effects (blah to the point of catatonia, anorexic - lost 10 lbs. and he was thin to start) we took him off.

He no longer goes crazy hitting and punching anyone because the last time he shoved me, I followed the safety plan put in place by our in-home services team and called the cops. They stayed with me until his dad got here and then we took him to the hospital (they decided he didn't meet the criteria for admission). It was awful: all the neighbors saw four cop cars fly down our street, eight cops in my house, and their attitude was so condescending, the parents of kids who are always in our house must have been wondering what the heck was going on. My son was mortified, couldn't believe I'd do something like that. But he hasn't laid a hand on me since. None of the drugs he was on seemed to stop it. But being embarrassed in front of his friends did.

He does have outbursts of destructive behavior where he will break something in my home, a picture, a mirror, unplug my computer, delete his sister's AIM buddy list. In that case he doesn't get to visit my house for a while. Believe me, this is better than what we've had for the past four years.

<span style="color: #6633FF">no direct experience, but is he maxed out on the risperidal?? might he need an increase in his dosage?? they grow, they gain weight....all that usually means they need an adjustment in dosage.

difficult child 1 would get violent if he missed his dex or something else interfered with its uptake. Caffeine would make him aggressive too. On sustained-release dex he's gentle. Risperdal made no difference to his aggression. Zoloft has lifted his mood to "I'll communicate with the rest of the world". He's trying to cut back but feels he still needs it to keep his anxiety under control.

Risperdal made him gain weight - at 16 he doubled his weight in six months. He went from a six pack belly to a beer keg. He went off it after a year (he was only on quarter of a tablet daily anyway) and the weight slowly dropped as he continued to grow. He's now lean, wiry and back to six pack. Hair like Fabio. If he only knew how many female eyes follow him as he walks around the village - but I'm not telling him!